Greenpeace courges Japan two probe whaling graft a japanese court monday sentenced two greenpeace activists to one-year jail terms , suspended for three years , for stealing a box of whale meat during an investigation , the environmental group said . related articles 11 >>

Vatican: Stoning in Iran adultery case 'brutal' iran said on saturday that it has yet to take a final decision on the stoning of a woman convicted of adultery and complicity in her husband's murder in a case that has sparked an international outcry . related articles 8 >>

Video: Family's Survives, Recovers after Katrina hurricane katrina tore the langsford family apart forcing kenny and his daughter to flee to safety as michelle and their prematurely born son stayed in the hospital to fight for survival t five years later they spoke with dave price on how their family has recovered since the storm t t t t t t . related articles 7 >>

Israeli PM says in ganiza cready to make historadic peace with Palestinians israelis and the palestinians are scheduled to red to resumed their sporadic direct peace negotiations thursday , with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and president mahmoud abbas attending a u.s.-mediated summit in washington t expectations remain low for the latest face-to-face talks , the first in 20 months , as the two middle east neighbors , locked in their decades-old feud , are still divided by bitter differences t following is a glimpse at both sides' stances t related articles 25 >>

Kouchner pledges Ashtiani support thousands of people marched in paris and around france on saturday to protest expulsions of gypsies and other new security measures adopted by president nicolas sarkozy's government . related articles 7 >>

Roma , pensions and a funding scandal besiege Sarkozy paris (reuters) - tens of thousands protested across france on saturday against a clampdown on immigrants , launching a week of action overnment's security policy and pension reform on which president nicolas sarkozy has staked his political reputation . related articles 8 >>

England and Argentina into semis at hockey W.Cup the weather turned from frigid friday to sunny spring saturday as england and argentina secured semi final berths from pool b at the women?s field hockey world cup.england defeated south africa 2-1 , argentina defeated china 2-0 and spain knocked south korea out of semi final contention with a 2-2 draw.helen richardson?s double made england look comfortable after richardson cracked in a loose ball in the first half and tipped in at the right post crista cullen?s fifth penalty corner chance in the second half . related articles 9 >>

At least 15 die, 160 disappeared in two boat Capsizing accidents in DR Congo congo riverboat: survivor tells of escape from blaze on boat heavily loaded with passengers and drums of fuelas many as 200 people are feared dead after a heavily loaded boat caught fire and capsized in southern democratic republic of congo , a survivor said tonight.fabrice muamba , who said he was on the boat when it caught fire last night on the kasai river , said he thought only 15 people had been able to swim to safety.passengers began to jump overboard when the engine caught fire as the boat passed the village of mbendayi , 45 miles from the town of tshikapa , which is north of congo's border with angola.muamba said the boat was also carrying many drums of fuel on its journey through kasai occidental province.local official françois madila said police arrested two of the vessel's crew and are investigating t madila said the sailors had not said how many people were aboard and that the passenger list appeared to have disappeared in the fire.the boats that ply congo's rivers are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity , with little regard for safety t the industry is not well regulated.the incident is the deadliest of several boating incidents reported this year in congo.in july , officials said at least 80 died when a boat ferrying about 200 passengers to kinshasa , congo's capital , capsized after hitting a rock.in may , dozens died when an overloaded canoe capsized on a river in eastern congo t and last november , at least 90 died after a logging boat sank on a lake t the timber-carrying vessel was not supposed to be carrying passengers.the democratic republic of congo is a vast country of jungles and huge rivers in central africa with little more than 300 miles of paved road t many people prefer to take boats even if they cannot swim.democratic republic of the congowater transportguardian.co.uk related articles 8 >>

Brazilian oil company to issue $64.5 bln shares to finance oil exploration brazil's petrobras unveiled one of the world's biggest share offerings , a sale of up to 64.5 billion dollars in new stock to finance oil exploration aimed at turning brazil into a leading oil exporter of the 21st century.the transaction could be expanded to 74 billion dollars if there was heavy demand , the state-run company said . related articles 6 >>

Politician's wife exposed as prostitute tehran (reuters) - an iranian newspaper said on tuesday that carla bruni , the wife of france's president , deserved to die after she expressed solidarity with a woman sentenced to be stoned for adultery . related articles 9 >>

Germany to extends life of nuclear reactors germany said it would extend the life of its nuclear reactors by 12 years lon average monday after marathon talks on the controversial issue that will shape the energy policy of europe's top economy.the decision came after 12 hours of talks between senior politicians and means that some of the 17 plants will now be operational until the 2030s.the lives of older plants will be extended by eight years and those of newer ones by 14 years , environment minister norbert roettgen said . related articles 8 >>

Iraq Combat Mission Over? U.S. Trooposal's Still Involved in Combat presidentrial barack obama will award the medal of honork , the military's highest award for bravery , to air force chief master sgt t richard etchberger for his valor in saving the lives of three wounded comrades in laos in 1968 , the white house announced friday . related articles 24 >>

Japanese public backs PM Kan vs Ozawa by wide margin with less than two weeks until the ruling democratic party of japan's leadership election , local polls show that prime minister naoto kan and challenger ichiro ozawa are locked in a tight race to win support from their own party members . related articles 25 >>

Third seed Venus Williams advances into US Open quarter-finals top seed caroline wozniacki and former world number one maria sharapova booked a fourth-round showdown with straight-set us open triumphs on saturday while roger federer cruised into the last 16 as well.danish 20-year-old wozniacki , last year's us open runner-up , routed taiwan's chan yung-jan 6-1 , 6-0 , while russian 14th seed sharapova , whose threer grand slam titles include the 2006 us open , blanked american beatrice capra 6-0 , 6-0 . related articles 23 >>

At least 14 killed, 3 missing, 13 injured in Guatemala landslides president dmitry medvedev dispatched defense minister anatoly serdyukov to dagestan on sunday after the north caucasus republic was rocked by a series of attacks that killed at least three people andslides injured dozens , including a local government minister t . related articles 25 >>